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In this episode, Dr. Barbara Hales and Lysa Miller discuss:

  • The power of personal branding in creating trust and recognition in healthcare and beyond.
  • Strategies for healthcare professionals to leverage social media, public speaking, and thought leadership for growth.
  • The importance of defining and targeting the right audience to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Key Takeaways:

“Identify your ideal client, over-deliver on their expectations, and create a brand experience that resonates both online and offline.” – Lysa Miller

Connect with Lysa Miller:

Connect with Barbara Hales:

 

Twitter:   @DrBarbaraHales

Facebook:   facebook.com/theMedicalStrategist

Business website: www.TheMedicalStrategist.com

Show website:   www.MarketingTipsForDoctors.com

Email:   Barbara@TheMedicalStrategist.com

Books:

YouTube: TheMedicalStrategist

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/barbarahales

 

TRANSCRIPTION

Introduction

Dr. Barbara Hales: Welcome to another episode of marketing tips for doctors. I’m your host, Dr. Barbara Hales; today, we have with us, Lysa Miller. She founded Ladybugz Interactive, an award-winning web design and digital growth agency serving startup and early-start biotech companies to launch their digital brands. The Boston-based agency also works with growing nonprofits, B2B companies, Legacy brands, and independent specialty schools. Lisa is also the founder of the Metro West Women’s Network, an online networking and referral group of 5000 local women. Her goal to empower and help local women grow by supporting and referring one another. Recent accomplishments include being featured on the cover of Boston Business Journal’s 2020 annual book of lists named Top Woman-owned Marketing Agencies to Watch in 2021 by agency Vista, named Top Women-Owned Agencies in 2022. By cloudways in 2023 and 2024 the number one on the list of top 100 women agencies by clutch.co. She has also been featured for her agency expertise in entrepreneur fortune.com, cloudways.com, and Business Insider. Lisa regularly contributes thought leadership content locally and to agency publications and podcasts. Welcome to the show.

Lysa Miller: Hi. That was a mouthful, but thank you. Thanks for having me today.

 

Top Strategies for Marketing Yourself Effectively

Dr. Barbara Hales: Lisa, what are the top strategies you’ve used to market yourself effectively in your field, and how do you think these could be adapted for healthcare professionals in private practice?

Lysa Miller: So I think I started doing more of a personal branding approach back maybe like 10 years ago, before a lot of people were doing that. My background is in public relations and journalism, so I think I have a bit of a knack for that, and also, you know, sort of like in-person, networking and that sort of stuff. So that’s sort of how I became known. Even though I was an online company, people knew the company, but they more knew my name from, you know, my thought leadership, from me being on podcasts, and so that definitely helped build trust in my business. The other way is that, you know, when I do talk to customers, they always remember our name. And a lot of people ask me, like, how did I come up with the name? Like, why do you like the name? And the one thing that just sticks and resonates is that, you know, it was my name when I started out, when I was younger, a friend and I started the agency together when we were like 24 freelancers. And you know, we’ve I’ve been kind of going back and forth under that name for many years, until I relaunched my agency in 2021 but having a name that resonates with your patients, with your clients, and I think when people can remember you. They can remember your face. They trust you. They’ll refer you and all that good stuff, and that can be online, that doesn’t have to be in person. So if somebody googles a specific physician and there’s information about them, and, you know, accolades and all that different kind of stuff, people will tend to gravitate more to that more well-known practitioner.

 

Advice for Doctors Looking to Establish Their Personal Brand

Dr. Barbara Hales: What advice would you give to doctors looking to establish their personal brand?

Lysa Miller: So I think that I do have clients that do have a personal brand, and it’s awesome, especially like the millennial age type and younger. But you know, people that are more in my age group, like the Gen X group. I mean, you just can’t be afraid of social media. You can’t be afraid to put your personality out there. I mean, you can stay away from, you know, practitioner type, you know, things that you can and can’t say online, but you can definitely give a brand story. So the client that I have is going through a certain treatment themselves, and so they’re posting about that as a physician. So there is definitely ways you can do that on social media. You can also do your own events, like at your practice. You can go out and speak in public. You can, you know, speak at hospitals. There’s lots you can do around education to give yourself a personal brand, and you can’t be afraid to, like, take great pictures of yourself and post them and all that good stuff. So I tend to be like a lot of people say, like you’re an extrovert, and I am when I go out in public, and I can do that, but I can’t public speak. That is my biggest worst thing. Being on video is very tough for me, and having a scripted sort of. Um, you know, story is hard for me, but so I don’t like all that stuff, and people can’t believe that I can’t public speak, but, like I do really well on podcasts. And the reason is because, you know, I’m definitely better, the better at conversational like communication versus, you know, pre-thought-out, you know, presentation style. So there’s things I can’t do, and there’s things I can do. So you have to pick what you’re really good at. And then once you’re really good at something, just keep doing it.

 

Social Media and Content Marketing

Dr. Barbara Hales: How can healthcare professionals use social media to promote themselves and their practices?

Lysa Miller: Well, so I think first of all, you know, it’s good to have, like, that combination of the personal and the professional. You know, you want to, especially in today’s day and age, you want to connect with people personally. I don’t think you can just be a doctor on social media and expect people to connect with you. I think that’s one of the reasons why a lot of healthcare practitioners are struggling with marketing, is because they’re being too professional. And I get it. You know, you’ve got to be serious about what you’re doing, but you also have to be human, you know. People need to connect with you. And so, you know, they want to hear about you, your story, your struggles, your challenges. And like, why you do what you do. And if you can bring that out in social media and your content marketing, then you’re going to get people to like you more. So, you know, if you’re doing social media, you should be posting at least 3 to 5 times a week, even if you’re just starting with that. And you want to make sure that you’re posting about things that resonate with your ideal patient, and not just about you, and not just about your practice. You want to educate, but you want to entertain. And you want to be informative.

 

Building Your Email List and Content Strategy

Dr. Barbara Hales: How can doctors build an email list and develop a content strategy for their practice?

Lysa Miller: So I think the number one thing when it comes to email marketing, the list is everything. And most doctors don’t even realize that the email list is worth more than anything that they’re doing. If you have your own list of your patients that you’ve already established a relationship with, you can nurture them. And you can get them to come back into your practice. You can get them to refer you. You can upsell them on other treatments, you can cross-sell them on new treatments. And so that list is really important. But the way you get the list is offering value upfront. And so if you’re not giving something, whether it’s a freebie or something that they can access, like a downloadable PDF, whether it’s a discount code, whether it’s a free consultation, if you’re not offering that to get people to give you their email, then you’re missing the boat, right? So once you have that email, it doesn’t matter how big your list is. It’s about how often you stay in front of those people. So once you get that list, that’s where the content strategy comes in. And you want to consistently provide value to them. Whether it’s through newsletters, whether it’s through promotions, whether it’s through new service offerings, new content that you’re creating. You’ve got to stay in front of those people.

 

Challenges in Healthcare Marketing

Dr. Barbara Hales: What are some of the challenges you’ve seen healthcare professionals face in terms of marketing their practice, and how do you think they can overcome them?

Lysa Miller: I think one of the biggest challenges is just knowing what to do and what not to do. You know, there’s so much information out there. There’s so many experts out there. People don’t know who to trust. So the first thing is to make sure that you are trusting somebody who has experience in healthcare marketing specifically because it’s different. It’s a different animal. So that’s one thing. I think another thing is that, you know, most doctors, they’re busy. And so they don’t always have the time to focus on their marketing, which is why they end up outsourcing it. So it’s really important to have someone who can manage it for you. And you don’t have to do everything. But if you do a little bit and you stay consistent with it, then you’ll see growth. It’s about being strategic with your time and your resources.

 

Conclusion

Dr. Barbara Hales: Well, Lisa, thank you so much for sharing your insights today. It was great to have you on the show.

Lysa Miller: Thank you for having me. It was really fun.